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Life in the UK Test Guide for New Residents 2013

The Revised Life in the UK Test 2013 (3rd Edition)

Passing the Life in the UK test is one of the most important steps for individuals
seeking permanent resident status in UK or naturalisation as a British citizen. The
main objective of the British citizenship test is to ensure that the applicants have
sufficient knowledge of British life and good proficiency in English language. The UK
government has announced a new Life in the UK test from 25 March 2013, which is based
on the revised handbook called
Life in the UK: A Guide for New Residents
(3rd edition).
The new test rightly focuses on values and principles of British and helps the migrants
to integrate easily into British society.

Unlike the current test, which has questions based on only selected chapters, the questions
in the new Life in the UK test is selected from all chapters of the new handbook, which means
the candidates should have proficiency both in British history and law. The new handbook will
no longer feature information about public transport, credit cards, water meters, internet,
job interviews and other common parts of life in Britain. Instead, the updated curriculum of
the new handbook mainly emphasizes on British culture, tradition as well as the events and
people that have occupied important role in the British history. Similar to the old test,
the new test also consists of 24 multiple-choice questions that you will have to answer in
45 minutes.

1st and 2nd Chapters:

The first chapter mainly focuses on British principles, values and the common procedure for
attaining permanent residence or citizenship while the second chapter explains the natural
beauty and major landmarks of UK and the layout of its different countries.

3rd Chapter:

Even though historical facts were included in the previous handbook, the old test format did
not emphasize much on this information. The new chapter - A Long and Illustrious History
describes the entire British history from the past Stone Age to the present political
situations including the world wars, kings and queens and the most prominent works of
Shakespeare and Burns, the scientific contributions of Newton and Fleming and the political
persuasions of Churchill and Attlee. The chapter covers many main aspects of early Britain,
the Middle Ages, the periods of Tudors and Stuarts, main wars including the battles against
the Vikings to the latest conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the emergence of UK as a global
power etc.

4th Chapter:

The fourth chapter ‘A Modern Thriving Society’ incorporates many interesting topics on British
customs and traditions, artistic heritage and culture, sports from the past to the present 2012
London Olympics, music of Purcell and the worldwide influence of modern British composers from
Benjamin Britten to the Beatles, religious beliefs of people living in UK society, places of
interest etc.

5th Chapter:

Last but not the least, the 5th chapter called ‘The UK Government, the Law and Your Role’ include
information on government, democratic laws and policies, individual’s responsibilities and
privileges as US citizens, living and getting involved in the UK community etc.